SLUDGE VICTIMS

Home on the Range at the Nation's Largest Sewage Dump

against the very agency whose mission it is to protect them, the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission. The complaint was dismissed with no action taken.


The Bush Philosophy: Let Industry Run Texas In 1997, Merco applied to the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Conunission (TNRCC) for a renewal of their sludge permit for an additional five years. The company also requested an amendment to triple the amount of sewage sprayed per acre. To support their efforts, Merco hired Gov. Bushs former legislative director, Cliff Johnson, to lobby the Bush appointed commissioners (I 997 Commissioners -Barry McBee, Ralph Marquez , John Baker) at the state regulatory agency. The permit renewal would allow up to 400 tons of wet sludge to be dumped each day, which amounts to 1.5 billion pounds of sewage sludge over five years enough to fill half of the Houston Astrodome. (3) Texas regulatory rules do not allow for hearings on sludge registrations (permitting); the only recourse citizens have for challenging sludge registrations is to file a motion for reconsideration after the registration has been issued. Bill Addington and Millie Dodge of Sierra Blanca used this opportunity to file a motion for reconsideration with the TN-RCC.

In response, the TNRCC Executive Director Dan Pearson filed a brief arguing for the motion for reconsideration to be denied. Pearson, hired by the Bush-appointed TNRCC Commissioners, claimed that the Merco operation wasn't a threat to health or the environment, and that "there have been no odor complaints relating to the Merco site since July 29, 1996. That complaint investigation found no nuisance conditions. Properly digested and stabilized, sludge may have an earthly odor when its is first applied, but the odor will soon disappear." The Bush-appointed Commissioners denied the motion, saying properly treated sewage sludge posed no threat, and Merco began dumping up to 400 tons a day.


The Result: Illegal Dumping At Sierra Blanca In 1999, Merco admitted that it had spread sludge from New York that had not been properly treated to reduce pathogens - a state and federal requirement. (4) Merco had previously been caught spreading untreated sludqe and fined $12,800 in 1994, a sum unlikely to deter illegal dumping on a contract valued at $168 million dollars over five years. Instead of requiring that the sludge be treated before it is shipped, as is required by law, the TNRCC simply suggested that Merco mix the untreated sludge with lime on site to bring the pathogen levels up toClass B standards.

-"Friends of mine that work at Merco tell me that Merco still occasionally .spreads sludge without mixing it with lime first,"say Addington. (5)

Next Week: Another chapter in the Gov. Bush environmental legacy-

TEXAS, SIERRA BLANCA- ODORS.-- "AMMONIA VAPOR MIXED WITH FECAL SMELL" - "IT SMELLS LIKE DEATH" SLUDGE VICTIMS SUFFER STRANGE RASHES, BLISTERS IN MOUTH, MORE FLU, COLDS, ALLERGIES, ASTHMA -- RANCHER UNABLE TO SELL PROPERTY BECAUSE OF SMELL.